Public Behavior
Public Behaviour, Official Stance, Public Position, Public Face, Tatemae
noun
What you build up in front of other people is your public image. This is your public behavior, how you act around others you don't really know. This concept is surprisingly important in Japan, so you'll hear it often enough despite being such a strange concept in other places. You'll have to think of this like you're building buildings of personality in front of you. These show off who you are on the outside, but it protects what's on the inside.
The reading is pretty strange. It's a lot like 建物 in that it's read as たて, which is like the word 建てる even though the て isn't showing here. So, you'll have to remember it's read like 建てる but the て gets pushed into the kanji.
ビエトは本音と建前を使い分けるのが上手い。
Viet is good at separating his public and private selves.
しょうかいじょうが無いとここの医者にみてもらえないというのは建前です。
Our official stance is that you can't see a doctor here without a letter of reference.
よく「本音と建前」は日本独特の文化だと言われますが、実際は世界中に存在します。
It’s often said that "the contrast between one’s personal feelings and public behavior" is a characteristic unique to Japanese culture, but that exists all over the world.